Agent: Hayward was leaning toward Jazz on Monday night
Gordon Hayward's agent said Wednesday that his client, who ultimately agreed to sign with the Boston Celtics on Tuesday, leaned heavily in three directions during free agency, seriously considering the Utah Jazz and Miami Heat at different times.
"He felt Miami was the spot for him," Mark Bartelstein told The Vertical's Chris Mannix about Hayward's visit to the Heat on Saturday.
"He was enamored with it. And then the next day, he was in Boston. Obviously there's a relationship with Brad Stevens ... and really the same thing happened in Boston. He was wowed by the presentation that was put together. When he left Boston, he thought for sure that was the place for him."
That presentation included a video at Fenway Park.
However, Bartelstein added that after the Jazz visited Hayward's San Diego home on Monday, he seemed ready to re-sign with the only NBA team he's ever played for.
"And I think after (Jazz) meeting, he thought, 'My goodness, how can I leave this,'" Bartelstein said. "On Monday night he was very much leaning toward staying in Utah, but he had just been through this whirlwind tour in three days. He woke up on Tuesday, still not really sure what he wanted to do."
That's when a report by ESPN's Chris Haynes came out, saying Hayward had decided on the Celtics. According to Bartelstein, he and his client were still discussing the options.
"Literally as we were going through it, all of a sudden my phone starts to blow up ... that obviously caused chaos," the agent said. "We would never, ever make a decision without communicating with the teams first ... I have no idea where it came from. No one ever called us."
After Bartelstein shot down the initial report, Hayward eventually chose Boston with a post on The Players' Tribune - ultimately proving Haynes' reporting correct.
Bartelstein confirmed that a ghostwriter had written different variations of the post depending on where Hayward landed, but stressed that the decision was an extremely tough one for the All-Star forward.
"He felt Boston was the best place for where he is in his life and his career," Bartelstein said. "It was gut-wrenching for him."